Hungary was seen as a major opponent against EU attempts to suspend Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
Budapest, which relies on pipeline supplies from Russia, has blocked a sixth package of sanctions because it cannot easily obtain oil from elsewhere.
“It would be humiliating … to completely remove part of the oil embargo package just to push through the other elements,” an EU official said.
“The idea is to have an embargo on Russian oil and to release the Russian Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Hungary only for a while, to give the European Commission and Hungary time to solve the problem.
As most of Russia’s oil in Europe is delivered by tanker, the ban on imports by sea will still have a significant impact.
But the failure to agree on the oil embargo has hampered other elements of the sanctions package, including the exclusion of Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, from the Swift messaging system and a ban on Russian EU broadcasters.
In a speech last night, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky struck at EU divisions over the latest package of sanctions.
He said: “How many more weeks will the European Union try to agree on a sixth package? Of course, I am grateful to those friends who are in favor of new sanctions. But where do the people blocking this sixth package get their power from? Why are they allowed to have such power? “
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, raised additional questions about how Germany is ready to show its support for Ukraine on Friday in a tweet that said: “Can violence be fought with violence? Can you create peace without weapons?
“One thing is clear. We support Ukraine so that violence does not become the norm. “
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